Discovery bargains
ONE of the consequences of lockdown was that I had to suspend the search for a couple of engines which I needed for Tdi conversions. Once the restrictions were relaxed I put out an appeal on Facebook for engines, and had a message in reply from a chap locally with two old Discoveries to dispose of, a 200Tdi and a 300Tdi. I went along to have a look and ended up buying both of them for what I considered a fair price. The seller was happy to deliver them both the same day, and before I packed up for the day I thought I would have a quick look over them and see whether they would yield any useful bits apart from the engines.
The 300Tdi was a three-door manual, roughly painted in various shades of black, missing its headlights and bumpers, and with bits of chequer plate riveted to the lower body sides. It looked neglected and rough, but when I had a look underneath I found replacement box-section sills, solid-looking inner wings and arches, and no obvious rot around the body mounts. It sits on four almost new mud pattern tyres, and the interior should clean up with a good scrub. Three-door Discoverys seem to be regarded as more desirable than the more common five-door versions, and although needing plenty of cosmetic work this one is much too good to scrap. It had no battery and the seller said it was out of fuel, so I put a fresh battery on it, turned the key and it fired up and ran sweetly. It is arguably an easier restoration prospect than my 200Tdi which leaves me with a difficult decision to ponder.
On to vehicle two which looked even less promising. It was a Japanese import which had lost its original 300Tdi engine and automatic transmission in favour of a 200Tdi and matching LT77 gearbox. It is very much an unfinished project: the interior is in bits, there is wiring everywhere and one of the rear quarter panels is badly crunched. But the shell itself is much better than most, with solid arches and inner wings, a small amount of rot at the back of one sill and some slightly crude repairs around the battery tray (presumably as a result of a battery leaking acid). It is also a non-sunroof shell with a good headlining. I’ll have the incorrect engine and gearbox out of it, the rest will be put up for sale in the hope of finding someone looking for a Discovery restoration project.
First-gen Discoverys are about where Series II and IIA Land Rovers were back in the late 1980s: cheap, disposable off-roaders with a bit more character than a modern vehicle. I have a feeling that as the supply of usable unrestored vehicles dries up we will be starting to see more people tackling Discovery restorations, and prices will start to pick up accordingly. My three-door 200Tdi cost me £550 with a faulty gearbox: these latest two were £500 each. That’s not a lot of money for a proper pedigree Solihull off-roader with a bulletproof engine and no complex electronics to worry about. An old wreck of a Series vehicle will be four or five times that price.